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Published Articles by Michael Morris

49ers start season on bad note

I don’t know which was worse; listening to the game on the radio while I was at work or watching the recorded game already knowing what had happened.

The strong preseason by the San Francisco 49ers was no indicator of how they would start the season. Despite an interception by Nate Clements to start the game, the 49ers failed to live up to the lofty expectations that have been granted to them by analysts and fans in the football world.

I don’t know what I feel worse about; the 49ers scoring an NFL low 6 points in week one, the fact that they allowed the Seahawks to score a bold 31 points, former USC coach, Pete Carroll, winning his first game in the NFL against the 49ers, or just knowing that the Oakland Raiders already have one more touchdown than San Francisco.

The 49ers were able to put the first 6 points on the board, but those 6 points would be spread over two quarters and would be the only 6 points of the game. Seattle scored 28 straight thanks to poor secondary play by the highly touted 49ers defense and ugly offensive play by the 49ers.

The most obvious blemish on Sunday was the offensive-line play by the 49ers. Rookies , Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati weren’t the only reasons the offense couldn’t get anything going, but they were a major factor in the 31-6 loss.

Frank Gore was unable to find any holes and Alex Smith found himself rushing a handful of throws because of the poor pass blocking. Gore rushed for only 38 yards on 17 carries while Smith passed for 225 yards and two picks. The two interceptions by Smith were on throws to Michael Crabtree and it was obvious that the two could have used some more time in the offseason getting some familiarity with one another.

Here is where I would go over the bright spots of the game, but unfortunately for the 49ers the Seahawks took all those up.

The 49ers will have a lot of work to do as they prepare for the New Orleans Saints; a much stronger offense, capable of 31 points in a half.

Patrick Willis, who had ten tackles Sunday, summed up to loss pretty well with his most recent tweet:

“Yesterday was a tough loss, really embarrassing for us as players, for the organization period.”